Social Watch E-Newsletter - Issue 302 - June 16, 2017

"What we have to ask ourselves is this: is Africa in control of our resources or is Africa entangled in this global system of accumulation which was brought by colonialism? How do we escape that bondage?" summarized Mela Chiponda, a participant at the Second annual WoMin Feminist School, hosted by Netright Ghana."We didn't have title deeds, the land was not demarcated, nobody knew the acreage of their farms. So when we learned about this, the government came in and started to demarcate. and there was pause in the mining activities. But we are worried. It feels like a lion we have chased off, and it's lying in the grass waiting" said Sarah Makau, from Kenya. Read more

The number of countries experiencing physical violence and threats against workers has risen by 10 percent in just one year, according to the annual ITUC Global Rights Index. Attacks on union members have been documented in fifty-nine countries, fuelling growing anxiety about jobs and wages.The report shows that corporate interests are being put ahead of the interests of working people in the global economy, with 60 per cent of countries excluding whole categories of workers from labour law. Read more.

Closing the gender gap by 25 per cent by the year 2025 has the potential to boost global employment by 189 million and raise global GDP in 2025 by 3.9 per cent, or US$5.8 trillion, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said.In its World Employment and Social Outlook report released Wednesday, the ILO said that the achievement of such a goal could also unlock large potential tax revenues.For example, global tax revenue could increase by US$1.5 trillion given currently projected government revenue shares in GDP, most of it in emerging (US$990 billion) and developed countries (US$530 billion)."Consequently, policies promoting gender equality could be self-financing," it said. Read more.

Last June 12 two committees of the European Parliament voted on new tax transparency requirements for multinational corporations. While the outcome would strengthen the text proposed by the European Commission, a proposal by the Liberals and Conservatives introduced a dangerous loophole. The issue will now be sent to the plenary of the European Parliament for a final decision. "Until now, the European Parliament has been in favour of letting the public know what multinational corporations pay in taxes and where they do business,” said Tove Maria Ryding, Tax Coordinator at Eurodad, the European Network on Debt and Development. “But tonight, at the expense of the rest of society, the Liberals and Conservatives decided to protect large multinational tax cheats by introducing a loophole, through which they can continue dodging taxes. Read more.